Nobody Does it Like BELLA!

A dinner for me and Dennis? But why? What did I do to deserve this? I am trying to recall if I offered a lamb to the gods lately or if I saved someone's life recently or if I just donated my kidney to someone who needs it. I MUST have done something really good to be invited, much more, honored, with a dinner by none other than Ms. Bella Yuchengco and her daughter, Sunshine Puey at their home last May 1.

Let me just say.....to Steffie, Lucille, Anne and Markus, who couldn't/didn't accept my invitation to join me and Dennis, you are now officially a LOSER! You may add this missed opportunity as one of your TOP TEN list of

THINGS I REGRET NOT GOING TO IN THIS LIFETIME. 

I have been to a dinner hosted by Madame Bella before when she cooked Chinese cuisine because it is my dad's favorite. I was supposed to blog about that but if you remember, my computer died on me and I lost all the photos. (sniff sniff). Boy, that dinner was something else as well!

But this dinner was something I would drop everything for. PQ picked Marivi and I up and with the day being a holiday, the traffic was flowing and we were able to reach the gate of Ayala Alabang at exactly 7 pm. We were so proud that we were on time. Hard thing to do if you know me and PQ. Anyway, perhaps because we were so hungry....we lost our way. Left, right, reverse and U-turn, we did it all the road signs for a good 38 minutes.

The distance, the getting lost and the hunger was worth every second once we entered the home of the Yuchengco's.

THE MENU


THE GUESTS


James Reyes, Jojie Lloren and Puey Quinones.


Boboy and Kiek and Sunshine Puey.


Marivi Abueg, Srdjan Mendoza, Madame Bella Yuchengco, your bloggerina and Dennis Lustico.

THE SET UP


Kaiseki is the height of Japanese cuisine combining an appreciation for the changing seasons with true artistry.

One meal can consist of as many as 15 different courses, featuring sashimi, tempura, fish and meat dishes and tofu prepared in diverse traditional styles and designed to please all the senses.

Miss Belle prepared for us a six-course menu that consisted only of top quality meats and seafood. She even printed out a menu card! You can really see how much time and effort she and her staff prepared for this dinner. Add 10 interesting people with all their own stories to tell on the table and you get one truly memorable evening.

It was a bit noisy with all the chit chat but when the first course was laid to the table, ALL FELL SILENT. It was as if God pressed the mute button on us. It was like, the food commanded our full concentration. Every bite was not rushed. Each flavor exploding in our mouths. It was so much better than any 5 star restaurant that I have ever been to.

To Bella and Sunshine, my utmost gratitude for your hospitality, generosity and most importantly, thank you for the most valued gift that I got from you, your friendship.

To my readers, start envying....

Course 1





Course 2


Course 3, my ultimate favorite!!!!



Course 4


Course 5


Course 6, dessert and tea.



The beautiful and soon to be wife, Sunshine Puey giving us the story about how her mom became such a great cook. Apparently, Ms. Bella did not even know how to boil water as a young woman. Boy, after that dinner, she just proves to us all that it is never too late to learn how to do something and how to do it real well. Come to think about it, I believe that she perfected the art of fine dining in terms of preparation, presentation and sensation.

Moet and Chandon, Rouge and my soul sistah!

Event: Moet and Chandon launches Rouge
Venue: Nuvo, Greenbelt
Time: 8 to 11 pm. Partying did not end till morning though.
Attire: Usual night out clothing.
Sponsors: Moet and Chandon, Dior, Jewelmer
Special guest: Puey Quinones

It was hot. The weather AND the party. Nuvo had red drapes hanging (my favorite color) and bottles of champagne displayed all over the open air portion of Nuvo. The floor was emptied of the usual tables and chairs and were replaced by platforms for the models to step on. The music was loud and I really enjoyed it. The DJ was playing cool tracks that had some 80's music that blended in with recent ones such as Michael Jackson and Nelly Furtado. Need to keep this DJ in mind when I have a party.



People started pouring in around 10 pm. A lot of foreigners, socialites, fashion designers, media folks and the usual party goers. My gang, Dennis Lustico, Jojie Lloren, Lulu Tan-Gan, Taka and Windie Hayano, and friends was able to get a bottle of Moet and Chandon using PQ as our connection. Apparently, you needed one to be able to receive a bottle. It was quite difficult to ask the waiters to serve us because they were given strict instructions that they can only give out the champagne when they are given the signal to do so by the organizer. Now this seemed odd to me since this party was by invitation only and since the major sponsor was M and C it only makes sense to have the champagne served to all that were there and to serve it as if it came from an ocean. We had to practically beg for one which is so not cool.




When the bottle came, it was in an ice bucket and had a flare in it which I was afraid of because it can totally burn the haute couture that everyone was wearing that evening and what a disaster that would be. Although it added even more heat and danger to the evening, it was nice to see because admit it, we all love fireworks.





The highlight of the evening was the show where my soul sistah, Puey Quinones, launched his Rouge clothing line as a enters the international fashion arena. He showcased about 30 outfits that drew a lot of ahhhs from the crowd including me. I have never been so proud of PQ. I know that he worked a great deal to make this launch a success. The designs were young, sexy and stylish. He made use a lot of white linen material and silk polka dotted pattern. Tight knee length shorts and flowing gowns were my favorite. I couldn't help hating myself in the end for not being able to have a model's size so that I can just borrow PQ's collection whenever there is an event.






My dear friend, Rajo Laurel and Preview's Editor, Pauline Suaco-Juan was there to witness the show. Although Rajo was all smiles in this photo, it wasn't so 3 hours later when his Prado got carnapped. DARN this country!!! Here you are, wanting to have a good time with friends and then when you want to go home, your car gets stolen which means you need to stay up another 5 hours for the police report and all that crap and that's above the fact that you just lost a car worth P1M plus! Whoever stole his car is bound to get his karma and I hope he gets it REAL soon.


No food was served which kinda sucks because I was starving. I guess I got so used to Martini's hospitality when they would offer drinks and food whenever there is an event. Oh well, need to diet anyway. How else will I fit in those clothes last night?

If you want awesome clothes in your drabby closet, I say, get in touch with PQ.

Puey Quinones
pueyq@yahoo.com
(632)8950596